Friendship
by Aurora Mandeville
Summary: Two tormented souls find an unlikely friend in each other, one hiding behind a bright smile, the other letting his darkness show. But their shared knowledge of loneliness, lost memories, and being misunderstood is more than enough to start a new, and possibly, life-long friendship. One-shots of the friendship between Nico di Angelo and Jack Frost.
1. Ice & Shadow

_"After all, what goes better than cold and dark?"_

Jack sighed, those words kept pounding in his head. Pitch was right to go after him, the two of them knew what it was like to be all alone and no one able to see them. But after Jaime, that was all changed, someone believed in him now, could actually see him. So why did he keep thinking about those words? Jack ran his fingers through his hair, because Pitch was right, cold and dark went together like, well ,peanut butter and jelly. The only problem was, Pitch wasn't the dark that Jack liked, for people could have fun in the dark too. But that was why he was here, in the cemetery now, he might have found the dark that he liked. A dark-haired, dark-eyed boy stepped out of the shadows behind a tree as easily as Pitch. Though Jack could name several similarities between Pitch and this boy, one thing they didn't have in common was that the boy was kind. Jack had noticed him a few years ago wandering the streets of New York, all depressed and sullen. Jack tried to cheer him up, but the boy just ignored him. Jack figured that he didn't believe in him, so continued on. But when he saw him again a couple of years later, that whole concept changed. He saw the boy traveling through shadows, which worried Jack a bit since Pitch did the same thing, but after watching him handling monsters behind the mist and how he treated others, Jack came to realize that this kid wasn't as bad as he first thought. Jack longed to introduce himself to the dark boy, and now was his chance. He walked lazily through the cemetery, glancing at the boy from time to time, who didn't seem to notice. Finally, getting tired of waiting, though the boy was kneeling in front of a tombstone, Jack quickly made one of his perfect snowballs and threw it, hitting the boy smack dab in the face. He quickly looked up in surprise with a tinge of annoyance, as Jack noticed apologetically, and his mouth curled into a snarl.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because I've been wanting to meet you."

The boy blinked, "You wanted to meet me? Why?"

"Oh, I guess it's because of something somebody said to me a few years ago. I can't get it out of my mind, and, well, you fit the bill better than he does."

"Say what? What do you mean I fit the bill better than he does?" he asked, his voice softening a bit.

"Well, Pitch Black told me that cold and dark go well, and … uh, I like your dark better than his," shrugged Jack.

"M-my dark?"

"Yeah, I've seen you traveling through shadows the exact same way that Pitch does."

"Wait, who's Pitch? And who are you?"

"Oh, sorry, Pitch Black is the king of nightmares and I'm Jack Frost."

"What, you're Jack Frost? No way!"

"Yeah way! Glad you know who I am, but I don't know who you are."

"Oh, right, I'm Nico di Angelo, I'm a son of Hades."

Jack grinned, shaking Nico's hand, "Nice to meet you Nico. I have a feeling we're going to have lots of fun. Hades, huh? Doesn't sound quite as bad as Pitch." Nico grinned in response.


	2. Unlikely Friends

"I'm better!"

"No, I'm better!"

"Oh, you think so, eh? Then I challenge you to a duel! Nico can be our referee."

Nico facepalmed his head and groaned, "Again, really? Do you two have to keep doing this?"

"Well, it's the only way to see if I'm better than Pete."

"And it's the only way to see if I'm better than Jack," grinned Peter.

Nico sighed, "What is it this time?"

"Pete and I want to figure out who the fastest flyer is."

"Now?"

"Yes, what, do you have something better to do?"

"I wish I did," grumbled Nico.

Jack grinned, "Well then, how about we get started? We could start here, fly to North's workshop, and head straight back here for the finish."

"Sounds fine to me," grinned the summer spirit.

"Oh fine, but no dilly-dallying, talking to stars or the moon, or chasing birds. You fly straight to North's and straight back, understand?"

"Right," chorused the two spirits.

"Oh, and whoever touches me first, wins. Now, on your mark, get set, go!" Blue and green shot off, whooping and hollering on their way up north. Nico sighed, knowing them, this could take a while. He began fine-tuning his shadow powers while he waited, then an idea hit. He grinned, it was his turn to play a trick on those two. He glanced around, his eyes finally resting upon a lovely little shadow snuggled where a branch met its trunk. he played some more with the shadows, keeping an eye on the little shadow thirty feet above, ready to jump at a moment's notice. Then, surprisingly, he heard his cue a little earlier than he had anticipated, He quickly shadow-traveled to the branch, but in his rush, he took a wrong step and began plummeting to the ground. He frantically reached out for a hold, grabbing nothing but air. He gasped, then yelled as the ground came rushing up to meet him. He closed his eyes to the impact, landing in freshly-fallen snow and two pairs of arms. Nico's eyes popped open, Peter and Jack were looking at him worriedly.

"Dude, what were you doing? What were you thinking? You could have died if we didn't get here fast enough!"

Nico merely grinned, "But you're both the fastest flyers …"

"That doesn't matter, Nic, there were no shadows."

"Well, I guess we'll never know."

"Know what, Pete?"

"Who's the fastest flyer, cause it certainly isn't Jason Grace, that's for sure." Peter grinned and winked, lightening the mood quite a bit by getting Nico and Jack to laugh.

"That's true, but he doesn't know that."

"Oh really? Think we should prove it to him by racing him?"

Nico groaned, "Please, not another race."

"Sure, why not, it will be fun to get to boast about being faster than the son of Jupiter," replied Jack, his eyes twinkling with mischief. Peter and Jack glanced at Nico, a grin tugging at his face.

"That actually sounds rather nice."

"You'll referee?"

"Fine, I will, and this time we'l make an audience out of the other demigods." The spirits grinned.

"Now that sounds more like it!"

"And then we can get on to the next challenge."

"What's that?"

"Who's the best swordsman," winked Peter. Nico groaned as he immediately shadow-traveled to camp, but on the inside he was smiling, being with those two could be the end of him one day, but for now, he was going to relish knowing he could count on the few friends he did have.


	3. Making New Friends

The two backed up against the wall, one surprised that the other was joining him in isolation. Jack Frost, the guardian of fun, had every right to be in the midst of the crowd. Nico's curiosity was soon satisfied when Jack noticed him and shot him a sad smile as he scooted closer.

"You think you're the only one a creature would avoid? I'm winter, remember? The season of death? I'm no better than you." He glanced at the crowd, surrounded by Digimon, Jewelpets, fairies, and other such little creatures, several of whom seem to have found their favorite people and began bonding.

"What about Baby Tooth, even though all of the little Tooth fairies adore you?"

"She still gets cold."

"Oh, right, guess we are in the same boat then, huh?"

Jack cocked his head and gave him a lopsided grin, "Yeah, glad to know I'm not alone this time." A faint smile appeared on Nico's face as he gave a little nod, they both knew that feeling way too well.

"Hey! What are you two doing over here?" Peter Pan walked towards them, with Tinkerbell on his left shoulder, a grey cat on his right, and a cake in each hand. He took a bit out of one while he waited for an answer.

"Who's the cat?" asked Jack.

"The name's Tour, I'm the Jewelpet of Adventure." Nico and Jack stared at the cat in surprise.

"It, it talks?" exclaimed Nico.

"Well of course he does, he's a Jewelpet! All of us talk," stated another grey cat as he walked up towards them. A third Jewelpet, a white teddy bear, toddled towards Jack.

Peter grinned, "That's Labra, she's a polar bear, and the Jewelpet of Mischief." Jack picked up the little bear gingerly, but she seemed to have no problem with it and promptly made herself comfortable in Jack's arms. Jack smiled with relief and joy at Peter, who merely winked back.

"Chu!" Jack yelped as a little pink-haired fairy flew straight up to him and kissed him on the nose. "Wafoo! I nipped Jack Frost's nose!"

"Huh?"

"Sugar! You don't just fly up and kiss anyone on the nose!" berated a young girl, flanked by two other fairies. Nico's grin grew a tad bit wider, the male fairy totally looked like he wanted to punch Jack Frost's nose. Obviously, somebody had a crush on a certain fairy. "I'm sorry about that, Mr. Frost, Sugar got really excited. She's been wanting to meet you ever since we heard about your coming."

"Oh, wow, thanks! But, uh, just call me Jack. And you are?"

The girl shook hands, "Oh, I'm Saga. This is Salt, he's in-training to be a cloud fairy. This is Pepper, she's training to be a wind fairy. And of course, that's Sugar, she's training to be a snow fairy."

"Just like my mom! Wanna see my snowflake?"

"Sure!" Sugar pulled out a flute and played a quick tune, forming the loveliest little snowflake Nico had ever seen up close.

"Wow, Sugar, that was amazing!" Jack exclaimed as he clapped his hands.

Sugar grinned as she took a bow, "Thank you! I can't wait to work with you! We'll make the best snow ever!"

Jack laughed, "You got that right!" A furious tinkling of bells interrupted the chat. Nico turned to glance at what Tinkerbell was complaining about, and came face to face with a zombie fairy with shark teeth and a stinger. The two stared at each other for several minutes, Nico so surprised that his mouth dropped.

"Bane here apparently likes pinching girls," muttered Peter as he held onto a furious Tink, apparently wanting to get back at the pincher. Nico held out his hands, and Bane landed in them. He knelt and bowed his head in submission. Nico let out a shaky breath as he gingerly touched Bane. He paused and looked down, the other grey cat was sitting at his feet, looking up at him.

"What? I chose you to be my partner. Or would you rather my sister Diana?" He nodded in the direction of the approaching black cat.

"You, you chose me?"

"Of course, dummy, why would I even consider being near you if I didn't?"

"But, but, why me?"

The cat groaned, "Because I'm Dian, the Jewelpet of Self Control. You seem to keep yourself together better than most."

"But what if I'm actually not?"

"Then I'll just train you. We can begin now. Pick me up and massage my back."

"Wait, what?" Jack and Peter began snickering.

"Well what did you expect me to do, leap into your arms? Come on, I can't jump that high."

"You can't, or you won't?"

"It varies." Nico groaned as he bent down to pick up the cat, Bane having moved to his left shoulder. He petted Dian, the movement becoming relaxing and calming, that is, until Peter interrupted the moment.

"So, now that you both have Jewelpets, wanna go play some pranks?"

Jack glanced at Labra before grinning mischievously, "Let's do it."

Nico rolled his eyes, "Leave me out of it." His stomach growled, as if on cue. "I'm going to get something to eat."

"And me too," stated Dian.

"What? Why?"

"Well you obviously have never had pets before. It's your job to take care of me. Besides, I don't have hands."

Nico groaned, "Oh fine."

"Would you join us after you've eaten?" asked Peter

"Nope."

"Alright, fine, but you're going to miss out on all the fun," grinned Jack.

Nico scoffed, "If you could call that fun."

"Looks like we've still got some work to do," winked Peter.

Jack winked back, "Oh, no kidding, but we'll persevere and convince him to join us." The two snickered and took off, the season fairies joining them. Saga waved Nico over.

"Come on, you can sit with us, and if not, I can show a few open seats. You might want to hurry up though before they're all gone, and there's no food left."

"Thanks," he replied before following her to the food line. Maybe both he and Jack would get some more friends out of this. He glanced at Bane and Dian as his thoughts turned to the season fairies and Labra, then again, they already had.


	4. Frozen Heart

"No!" shouted Jack as everything seemed to slow down. The ice shot from the plant disappeared into Nico's chest as the momentum of the blast was sending him backwards into the pit where its mouth laid. Jack could feel Syaoran behind him, sending fire at the plant. Jack rushed forward and grabbed a hold of Nico's hand, pulling him back from the edge of the pit and laying him down gently.

"J-J-Jack," he sputtered, his eyes wide in fear. Jack placed a hand over Nico's heart, the plant's icy poison was working, and fast, Nico's heart was freezing up.

"Syaoran!" The brunette turned and his eyes widened when he realized the situation. He took a step forward, but a stem of the silvery blue plant came crashing down in front of him. Both Jack and Syaoran gritted their teeth, the plant was determined to get its prey. But they were equally, if not more determined to save their friend.

"Try to keep the ice from completely covering his heart! I'll get to you as soon as I can!" Syaoran shouted as he thrust his fiery sword into the plant again and again, Kazune, Kikunosuke, and Fakir rushing towards him to help.

"What? How . . ."

"Cover me!" Peter Pan had dropped to his knees and began rubbing Nico's chest. "You are not going to die, you hear me? You are not going to die!" Nico opened his mouth, nothing but shuddering gasps left his lips. Peter smiled sadly, "You're not going on that adventure without us, alright?" Jack turned to mask the pain on his face, he would never be able to join them on that adventure. He glanced up at the plant, it's silvery blue stems lashing out at the other four, its snow white flowers releasing an icy poison that was quickly thwarted by Syaoran's bursts of flames. Jack battled a few stems, but the majority of its focus was on Syaoran's flames. It was Nico's gasps of pain that prompted Jack into action. Being the only one completely immune to the plant's poison, Jack flew in and out of the lashing vines, freezing each flower as it released its toxins, allowing Syaoran to focus more on the vines than the toxins. The next thing they knew, Jack had landed next to Syaoran, and the two battled the vines furiously. The other three backed out wisely for it didn't take long before Jack and Syaoran became a flurry of activity, snow and fire blurring into one. It took them a few minutes, but they managed to beat back the vines to the point to where they could move away from it. But instead of rushing towards Nico, the two leaped over the pit. Jack aimed his staff at the flytrap-like mouth, as Syaoran aimed his sword. With a yell, ice and fire was sent down in two streams of light, twisting and turning until it hit the open mouth. With a screech and a quiver, it finally died. Jack grabbed a hold of Syaoran and flew him back to solid ground where the two took deep breaths.

"Syaoran! Hurry!" Kazune's voice broke them out of their rest, drawing their attention to the other important problem. They ran towards the scene, Kazune now rubbing Nico's chest while Peter, Kikunosuke, and Fakir hovered over them, ready to jump in and take over.

"Move," ordered Syaoran. Kazune took his hands off of Nico's chest as Syaoran put his on. A magic circle appeared in front of Syaoran's right eye, and a diamond materialized from it as Syaoran's hands lit up. Nico began to breathe easier as Syaoran's powers melted the ice around his heart. The diamond and the circle disappeared before Syaoran removed his hands from Nico's chest and helped him up, letting Nico lean on him for support. "I think I got it all, but to be on the safe side, let's get you to the infirmary. Kazune?"

"Hai," replied Kazune as he pulled out a flip phone.

"Syaoran! Kazune! Fakir! Kikunosuke! Peter! Jack! Nico! Are you guys alright?" called out a voice. The group glanced up, two robots landed not far from where they stood.

"Kira! Asuran! Perfect timing!" exclaimed Syaoran.

"Yeah, and I'll bet Matthew was behind it," mumbled Kazune.

"We need to get Nico to the infirmary, pronto!" shouted Jack.

"Roger!" The two robots bent down and held out a hand. Syaoran and Peter helped Nico into one outstretched hand before climbing in themselves, followed by Jack, the other three getting into the other hand. The other hand was placed on top, and the robots flew off. There was some light coming through the cracks between the fingers, allowing them to see each other.

"It would have been nice to have had them earlier," muttered Nico as he leaned back and closed his eyes.

Jack chuckled, "Oh yeah, but then . . ." He and Syaoran shared a glance.

"But then we wouldn't have found out that we could do that," Syaoran finished.

"Was that the whole purpose of that so-called exercise?" asked Peter.

Syaoran smiled, "I wouldn't be surprised."

"Yeah, but was it worth nearly losing Nic?"

Nico's eyes popped open and glanced at Peter, "They might not have worked together otherwise."

Jack sighed, "Nic's right, Pete, we might not have."

"And that might be another lesson, that we have to work together, or something like this could happen again, and next time, there might not be a chance we could save whoever's been injured."

"But the genies . . ."

Syaoran sighed, "Nic, Matthew's trying to get us to work on our own, without them, we can't expect them to solve all of our problems."

"Which is exactly why I chose such an easy problem for you to fix." The four yelped and backed up together against the metallic fingers.

"Yikes, Matthew, you're worse than Nico!" blurted Jack.

The genie burst out laughing, "That's kinda the point." The Peter Pan-like figure winked at them.

"But you can check to see if Syao got it all, right?" Matthew eyed him before reaching out and putting his hand into Nico's chest. Nico tensed up as Matthew felt around his heart.

"Looks like he did get it all. You're good," he stated as he took out his hand. All four let out a breath they hadn't realized they had been holding. "But you're all going to the infirmary before heading home for some much needed rest."

"What? But . . ."

"No buts, you need to get into the practice with certain procedures. Besides, I might stop coming to check up on you . . ."

"OK, we'll do it," blurted Nico.

Matthew's lips began to quiver, "What? You don't like it when I get so worried about you and come check on you?"

Nico crossed his arms, "Not your kind of checking up. I'm beginning to see why Steven complains about constantly babysitting you."

Matthew humphed, "You big meanie." Nico smiled, right before they had a little lurch.

Syaoran jumped up, "We're back!" The robot bent down again and opened the hands, allowing the group to descend. Syaoran's feet had barely touched the floor when he was tackled to the ground.

"Syao!"

"S-Sakura!"

Jack laughed, "Any redder, Syao, and people will think you're going to combust."

"If anything, that will make him even redder," commented Kazune. The two glanced at Syaoran. "See?" It wasn't long before other loved ones showed up, greeting the team back and escorting them the rest of the way to the infirmary. After each one was given the all-clear, Nico searched out Jack Frost.

"Hey, um, Jack?"

"Yeah, Nic?"

"Um, thanks, for saving me."

"Don't thank just me, it was a team effort. Besides, what are friends for?" Jack smiled as he ruffled Nico's dark curls.

"Yeah, but . . ."

"Hey, no matter what happened in the past, or will happen in the future, we'll always be your friends, Nic. And you know it's not just the six of us. We have a whole bunch of friends here, we're never going to be alone again, got it?"

"Yeah, but, still . . ." Nico hugged him, "thanks, for being my friend."

Jack pushed him and looked him square in the eye, "Hey, don't talk like that, sounds like you're going to try and die on us again."

Nico groaned and rolled his eyes, "I'm not, you dummy. I'm just, really grateful that you're my friend, that you're watching my back."

"And what about the others?" Nico blinked. "That was the point of today's 'lesson'."

"Yeah, I mean, definitely Pete, but, the others . . ."

"You're not sure if they trust you . . ."

"Or you." Jack's eyes widened before letting out a sigh.

"OK, you got me there, but, it seems they care enough to want to save you. You know they could have let you die back there."

"And Syaoran trusts you enough to fight side by side with you, or to let you fly him back to solid ground."

Jack smiled, "Then I guess there's really nothing for us to fear, huh?"

"Fear what?" The two glanced over as Peter joined them, behind him stood the other four. The seven looked at each other for a few minutes before Nico opened his mouth.

Kazune put up his hand, "We heard enough."

Syaoran stepped forward, "Listen, I don't know why this so hard, but, let's give it a try, OK?"

Kazune scoffed, "Yeah, especially since I still need to beat Nic at Mythomagic."

Nico grinned, "Good luck on that, Ouranos, your head's still in the clouds."

Kazune smirked, "Right, Hades, just let me know when your head's out of the sand."

Jack snickered, "This should be fun."

Syaoran gasped, "I've got it!" Everyone glanced at him questioningly. "We'll hold a Mythomagic competition! We'll start off with, say, ten participants, and we'll see how it goes from there. How does that sound?"

Nico's eyes lit up, "R-really? You, you mean it?" Syaoran nodded. "This is going to be so much fun!"

"Yes!" chered Jack and Peter, pumping their fists in the air.

Syaoran laughed, "Alright, we'll start next week. If there's ten participants, how long do you think it'll take?"

"Uh . . . it could vary, depending on how intense each battle gets. Ten days, at most?" replied Nico.

"OK, we'll say, a week, then, with three extra days in case we need it. Sound good?"

"Yes!"

"Alright then, let's go over the details the next couple of days before we announce it. Right now, I am tired." As if on cue, Syaoran yawned, followed by everyone else in turn. Groggily, they said their goodbyes and walked off to find a bed, falling asleep the instant their heads hit the pillows.


	5. Ice, Shadow, and Death

Nico had his back firmly pressed against the wall, Jack standing in front of him, facing Pitch. Their eyes darted to either side, they were basically outnumbered and surrounded by Nightmares.

"Jack, Jack, Jack, when I asked you what goes better together than cold and dark, I didn't expect you to try and answer that literally. I will agree, though, cold and death really do go together better than cold and dark, but you also told me that you didn't want to be feared, am I right? Or has that changed?"

"No, it hasn't, I don't want to be feared."

"But Jack, don't you know that the biggest, and most common fear, is death?"

"Hades isn't death, Hades is just the underworld!" blurted Nico.

"Oh, my, such a big difference. Doesn't matter, you're still dealing with death in some way, whether playing around with those scary zombies or talking to those creepy ghosts. So face it, that's the real reason why you knew you didn't belong at camp, it's because you're playing with the dead! It doesn't matter if Hades is death or just the underworld, you're still dealing with death in some way. And let's face it, there's a very high possibility that if you just thought it, someone will die. Of course, you've never really experimented with your powers, you're afraid of killing not just one person, but a whole group of people, a whole city, even. And not just death, but the shadows too. Why do you think I want you as my darkling prince? I can sense that there's a lot of darkness within you, and I can sense the potential you have."

Jack leveled his staff at Pitch, "You are not going to to turn him into something he's not."

"What do you mean something he's not? Look at him, people get creeped out just by looking at him. By joining me, he can become what everyone knows him to be, a Nightmare."

"No!" Jack shouted as he sent a wave of ice and snow through Pitch's forces, the momentum of the wave sending Pitch sprawling on the ground. Jack was panting hard as he grabbed a hold of Nico's arm. "Nico, shadow travel!"

"What? Are you nuts?"

"Just do it, now!" Nico took a quick look at Pitch before disappearing into the shadows, Jack still gripping his arm like a vise. The two came out on the hill overlooking Camp Half-Blood, both panting hard.

"Ow," Nico gasped.

"Sorry," muttered Jack as he finally let go of Nico's arm. Nico rubbed the spot, there was probably going to be a nice-sized bruise there in a couple of days.

"Hey, thanks, for, you know, not giving up on me."

Jack ruffled his hair as he rose, "Hey, it's my job as a Guardian, and, well, as a friend."

Nico glanced up, "A friend?"

Jack gave him a hand up, "Well, yeah, we're not that different, right?"

"Oh, we are fairly different, you're all games and fun times, I'm . . . haunted houses and graveyards."

"But there are haunted houses that are fun."

"Not real ones."

"Yes there are, Pete found a couple just the other week! You know what, how about we show you for Halloween?"

"Oh fine, but I'll only show you that . . ."

"Don't ever think like that again, you do not belong at Pitch's side, no matter what he, or anyone else might say or think. Pete and I know you're a great guy, even Sandy, Tooth, and Santa know that. Bunny's going to take a little bit more convincing, but both Pete and I got the same treatment, so that's nothing new."

"Thanks Jack, but what if Pitch comes back?"

Jack pointed up, "Manny's still watching, he'll let us know if he comes back. Oh, and, if you ever need someone to talk to, you can go to Manny, he's a great listener. Though, if you ever need any answers to your questions, expect a delay."

Nico smiled, "Thanks, Jack."

"No problem, besides, that's what friends are for, right?" Jack ruffled his hair again before taking off. "See you later! And tell Jason he still owes me and Pete that race!"

Nico laughed as he waved, "Will do!" He went and sat down at the base of a tree fairly close to camp and looked up at the moon. "Alright Manny, let's see if this works." The words came tumbling out, the only sound that night in the forest around Camp Half-Blood, as Nico poured out his heart to the Man in the Moon.


	6. First Christmas

Nico slunked to the far wall, his eyes darting over the large crowd. He could just make out Hazel's curly head, Jason was busy helping the shedus* fly the ornaments to the higher half of the tree, and Reyna was close enough for him to see that she was flirting openly with Peter Pevensie. A soft smile appeared on Nico's face, Peter was flirting back. He glanced over the rest of the crowd, he didn't know everyone's names by heart, nor even all of their faces, but it seemed that everyone was with someone they loved, whether a crush, a friend, or a family member, they were with someone as the stadium filled with laughter and merry chatter. He wasn't exactly trying to be alone, he knew there were several people who wanted him to join in the festivities, but he wasn't exactly thrilled about being surrounded by so many people. A small group, sure, but a large crowd? He would much rather not get trampled or squished, or whatever could happen in a large crowd. A gust of hot air breathed down his back as a nose nuzzled his hair.

"Verneo, what are you doing?" grumbled Nico. The black hippogriff* laid his head over Nico's shoulder.

"Why do you not join them, master?"

"I'm not a big fan of large crowds," Nico mumbled.

"Ah, I see. Is that nature, or nurture?" Nico eyed Verneo, but gave no answer. "Why not join them? I'm sure your sister and your friends are wondering where you are."

Nico scoffed, "They'd know where to find me. You did."

Verneo chuckled, "Because I can sniff you out. But, yes, you are easy to find, really, you're no good at hide-and-seek."

"Whatever."

"Hey Nic . . ."

"Don't even think about it."

"But I didn't even say . . ."

"You don't have to, Jack, you're all about making sure I have fun. It's getting kind of old."

Jack laughed, "Yeah, I guess so, but I was actually looking for you for a different reason." Nico raised an eyebrow. "Youichi's looking for you."

"Uh-huh."

"No, really, seriously! Your little brother's looking for you! And he told me I had better help him look or he'll send those mean ghosts of his after me until Groundhog Day!"

Nico snorted, "Oh, did he, huh?"

"Uh-huh." The two teens glanced over, there stood the younger brother in question, Youichi Hijiri, with an ornament of the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come in his hand. "I wanted you to help me with my ornament, nii-chan."

Nico glanced at the six-year-old, "Did you really threaten Jack with your ghost powers?"

Youichi nodded, "That way, you'd believe him."

"What?"

Nico did his best to suppress a smile, "Well, don't do that again, alright? It's not nice."

"But you do it all the time!" Youichi and Jack said in unison.

Nico pointed at Jack, "That's because you're stupid." He turned to Youichi, "And only I can do that. I'm the Ghost King, you're just the Ghost Prince."

"Oh, OK." Youichi held up his ornament, "Can you help me now, nii-chan?"

Nico sighed, "Where do you want it?"

Youichi pointed to the right side of the tree, "Shadow-travel me to just under there, there's a couple of empty spots."

Nico eyed him, "Excuse me?"

"Oh, sorry, nii-chan, may you please shadow-travel me under the tree?" asked Youichi with his dead-pan face.

"Alright, take my hand and hold on tight."

'Pick me up . . . please," stated Youichi with his arms out.

"You want me to do what?"

"Oh, come on, Nic, pick up the kid." Jack picked up Youichi and practically tossed him into Nico's arms. Nico let out a little yelp as he caught Youichi. Youichi wrapped his arms around Nico's neck while Jack adjusted Nico's arms to hold Youichi better. "There, that's better."

"Jack-senpai! We're almost ready for the snow!"

"Coming Sugar! You two have fun!" Jack winked at Nico and Youichi before he flew off. Nico merely growled in reply. Verneo walked over and lifted his wing over Nico.

"Alright, alright, I'm going, I'm going," sighed Nico before he shadow-travelled to the tree. He found that he had to lift Youichi to his shoulders so the boy could place his ornament in the spot he wanted. As soon as Youichi was happy with the end result, Nico shadow-travelled back to Verneo's side, just in time for the snow to begin falling. The two watched with fascination for a few minutes before Youichi laid his head on Nico's shoulder.

"Merry Christmas, nii-chan," sighed Youichi as his eyes drooped.

"Merry Christmas, Youichi." Natsume came by to take the sleeping child off of Nico's hands.

"The invitation still stands," remarked Natsume as Youichi's head went on his shoulder.

"I know, I'm still thinking about it." Natsume just nodded before walking away to join Hiroto Kazama and his family. Nico leaned back on the wall as Verneo laid down nearby and watched the crowd dissipate.

"Have you made up your mind on what you're going to do for Christmas?" asked Jack as he landed next to Nico.

"No, not really, it's just . . ."

"So many to choose from, huh?" Nico glanced to the side. "Kind of new, isn't it? So many people able to see you, and who'll accept you."

Nico glanced at the tree, "Yeah . . . nice work on the tree."

"Well, thanks, it is my speciality."

"It looks so perfect . . ."

"Really? Wow, I thought it . . ."

"Everything would be perfect if . . ."

Jack laid his hand on Nico's shoulder, "I know you don't like it when people touch you, but, listen, you have Hazel now, and Jason, and me, Youichi, Erik, Scipio, and so many others. And I know it's hard to move on, but you have to. I'm not saying that you should forget her, that's the one thing you should never do, you have to keep her in your memory, but that's the only place she can be for now. Living in the past won't do you any good as you'll miss the present."

"How do you do it, Jack, how are you able to get over any kind of sadness? How do you get over loss?"

"Well, getting over sadness is the easy part, the loss part . . . I . . . I don't know, I haven't exactly had to deal with loss . . . yet. It'll be hard, but I'll do my best to continue on, it's all I can do." Jack sighed, "I almost envy you, you get to die, I became immortal."

Nico grunted, "Mmm." He let out a yelp as a snowball pelted his face, "Hey!"

"Well I did say getting over the sadness was the easy part," grinned Jack as he made another snowball. "What, you're not afraid of snow, are you?"

Nico growled, "Oh fine, you asked for it, and now you're going to get it!" He reached down and quickly made a snowball, throwing it at Jack. Laughing, Jack ducked and the snowball flew over him, but his snowball landed square on Nico's face. "Hey, no fair, you big cheat!" Nico created another snowball and threw it, grazing Jack's shoulder.

"Hey, would you look at that, you're getting better already!" grinned Jack as he threw another snowball.

"Well, I should be, I'm mad, and I'm going to hit you!" Jack just laughed as the two threw snowball after snowball. "Verneo, get over here and help me!" shouted Nico.

"You look like you're doing just fine," stated Verneo as he rolled over.

"Oh, what are you good for, you dumb hippogriff!"

"Your ride home, perhaps?" came the hippogriff's reply.

"Ugh. Ooph! Hey, I wasn't ready!"

"Well, you need to be!" chuckled Jack as he threw another snowball. The two kept throwing, Jack not taking a break until Nico burst out laughing. Verneo's head popped up at the sound of it and Jack's mouth dropped open, but he recovered quickly and whooped.

"Yes, I got you to laugh! Boo-yeah!"

Nico's eyes widened, "So, that's what it was all about, huh? Getting me to laugh?"

"Yeah man, didn't you know? You use more muscles to frown than to smile," winked Jack.

Verneo approached them, "It's a nice laugh."

"Uh, um, thank you?" A giant bing bong echoed throughout the stadium, startling the two teens.

"Wow, it's already past midnight? You should get to bed, Nic, or Santa won't come," winked Jack.

"Uh-huh, right, it's not like I don't get to see Santa any other day," mumbled Nico before letting out a yawn. "But, I think I'll go to bed anyway, simply so that I can rest up and beat you next time."

"Looking forward to it," grinned Jack before flying off. Nico climbed on Verneo and the two took off for the house on the outskirts of town, where Nico tumbled into bed and fell asleep instantly.

*Shedu: A bipedal lion with six angelic wings, four eyes, and front paws that can operate like hands. They can easily stand about nine feet tall. Guardians of the island of Antillia.

*Hippogriff: A pegasus with the mane, tail, paws, and teeth of a lion.


End file.
